Thailand

2011

Bangkok, October 25, 2011 - The Committee to Protect
Journalists is alarmed by reports that Thai Prime Minister Yingluck
Shinawatra's government has tried to censor the citizen-journalist website Thaiflood, which has
provided crucial news and information about massive flooding that has inundated
one-third of the country's provinces. At least 350 people have been killed and
millions dislocated by the natural disaster.

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New York, September
26, 2011--The Thai government must bring to justice the perpetrators of the September
16 bomb attacks that killed a journalist and five other people in the country's
insurgency-plagued southern region, the Committee to Protect Journalists said
today.

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Bangkok, July 28, 2011--The Committee to Protect Journalists is gravely concerned by the anti-royal charges filed against Somyot Prueksakasemsuk, a political activist and former
editor-in-chief of the Voice of Taksin
and Red Power partisan newsmagazines.

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Bangkok, July 7, 2011--The
Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the raid and seizure of broadcasting
equipment by police at six community radio stations in Thailand's northeastern Nakhon
Ratchasima province. The raids were staged two days after caretaker Prime
Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's government lost to the opposition Peua Thai party
in general elections held on July 3.

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Bangkok, May 3, 2011--The Committee
to Protect Journalists condemns the arrest and detention on lese majeste charges of Somyot
Prueksakasemsuk, a political activist and editor-in-chief of the Thailand-based
Voice of Taksin and Red Power news magazines.

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Bangkok, April 27, 2011--The Committee to Protect Journalists
strongly condemns the closure by government authorities of at least 13
community radio stations in Thailand and calls on the government to cease its
campaign of harassment against opposition-aligned media immediately.

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New York, March 24, 2011--A Thai police investigation concluded today that government security forces did not kill Reuters photographer Hiro Muramoto, left, during political violence in Bangok on April 10, 2010. But the Committee to Protect Journalists, expressing concerns that the investigation was not transparent, has called for a full, independent investigation into the Japanese journalist's death.

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Bangkok, February 28, 2011--The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned by inconsistencies in Thailand's official investigation into the killing of Reuters cameraman Hiro Muramoto, who was killed by gunfire while covering clashes between anti-government protesters and security forces last April 10 in Bangkok.

Thailand's Department of Special Investigation told reporters today that its investigations showed that Muramoto was apparently not shot by security forces. The findings contradict the state agency's preliminary conclusions about the journalist's death released and reported by news agencies late last year. Those findings indicated the shots that hit Muramoto came from a direction where troops were positioned at the time and were fired from an M-16 assault rifle. The agency denied it had been pressured to clear the army of responsibility.

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Partisan Journalism and the Cycle of Repression

by Bob Dietz and Shawn W. Crispin

Lal Wickramatunga's family and publishing house, Leader Publications, have paid dearly in Sri Lanka's highly charged political climate. While Leader's newspapers, including the weekly Sunday Leader, are widely known for tough, independent reporting, they have been caught up in a partisan media environment, one filled with violence and censorship. Wickramatunga's brother has been murdered, his company has been sued, and his journalists face intimidation.

Armed clashes between anti-government protesters and state security forces resulted in 91 deaths and more than 1,800 injuries, a toll that deepened Thailand's debilitating five-year-old political crisis. Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva invoked an emergency decree to contain the protests and employed its discretionary powers to sharply curb press freedom, which included far-ranging Internet censorship.

Bangkok, January 21, 2011--The Committee to
Protect Journalists is deeply concerned about the charges and threatened
deportation of Thailand-based freelance photojournalists John Sanlin, a Burmese
passport holder, and Pascal Schatterman, a Belgian national.